On 29 January 2013, my husband was called to serve as a counselor in a Branch Presidency in the Provo Missionary Training Center. During this past year, we have been privileged to hear General Authorities speak to the missionaries each week and have had many touching and uplifting experiences. The purpose of this blog is to capture, preserve, and share our uplifting experiences, for, indeed, Sweet is the Work.

Provo MTC

At the flags by 19M

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Kindness and Love

On Sunday,
January 19, 2014, Sister Rosemary Wixom, General Primary President of the
Church, was the speaker for the Sisters in Relief Society at the Missionary
Training Center.

During her
talk, Sister Wixom told the story of an Elder in the Washington DC South
Mission who was attacked by a dog. In a self-defensive reaction, the Elder
thrust his Book of Mormon toward the dog. The dog chomped down on the book; its
teeth marks penetrated all the way to 2 Nephi 22 [page 93]. Sister Wixom
inspired laughter when she quipped, “Even the dog stopped at Isaiah!”

She then
went on to use 2 Nephi 22:2 as the theme of her talk.

Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid;
for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song . . . .

As part of
her talk, Sister Wixom included the video of the Savior appearing in the
Americas at the temple in the land Bountiful, healing the blind and the lame,
and blessing the children. The video, titled “My Joy Is Full,” has only
background music and no dialogue as it focuses first on the Savior’s hands
gently and lovingly touching and embracing the people, then on his tender
expression as he looked into their faces, and his smile of love and joy as the
children surrounded him.

Words cannot
do justice to the emotional and spiritual impact of this video. It has been
shown in the MTC Relief Society meetings during the past year on no fewer than three
occasions. It unfailingly engenders deep feelings of reverence, gratitude, and love.

When the
film ended, Sister Wixom admonished the Sister Missionaries to “keep this
feeling with you as you enter the mission field; minister in kindness and love,
as the Savior did.”~PLH

Because he loved us first

Needless to say, my wife was quite ebullient when she
related the experience that she had had at Relief Society on the 19th
of January. We spoke about the video in particular which had deeply moved her.
On a sudden it came into my mind that the Lord Jesus Christ had given his
disciples among the Nephites at Bountiful, a striking and sobering challenge.

And know ye that ye shall be judges of this people, according to the
judgment which I shall give unto you, which shall be just. Therefore, what
manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am. (3 Nephi
27:27)

Those who preside in
the Kingdom of God are frequently called upon to judge their fellow mortals.
Jesus taught his servants during the Sermon on the Mount that they were to “judge
not unrighteously, that ye be not judged; but judge righteous judgment” (JST,
Matthew 7:2).

I thought about men
whom I had known during my career in the Church and in the Church Educational
System. Many of them were attempting to live their lives in such a fashion that
they might interact with their fellow men in the same way that the Lord Jesus
Christ did. From my perspective, I knew that these were brethren who loved me,
not for who I was at the time, but for what they saw in my potential as a son
of God. How could I not love them in return?

On that same day
that my wife was attending Relief Society, perhaps at the very moment that she
was watching that inspiring video, I was preparing myself to be taught in a
Branch Presidency Training Meeting conducted by the Mission Presidency. There
are a goodly number who attend these meetings, usually in excess of 300
priesthood leaders. I have long forsaken my practice of sitting in the front
row of a congregation, so I was sitting in room B-145 in back of the first
partition where I could easily see the stand and watch a nearby monitor if
necessary. President Wilkins was out of town and Brother Marcov was away on
assignment, so I was sitting by myself, waiting for the meeting to begin,
writing in my journal. I was painfully aware that I had to take copious notes
on the meeting so that I might bring the other two up to speed when we next met.

Suddenly, President
Roach, the Second Counselor in the MTC Presidency, was standing before me with
his infectious smile, his hand extended to me in greeting. I smiled in return
and said, “My Bishop says ‘Hello’”. He asked, “Well, who is your Bishop?” I
replied, “David Harmon. I believe that you and he served together in the
Philippines as young Elders.” “Oh yes,” he said, “and he was a magnificent
missionary.” We chatted amiably for a minute or two and then he passed on to
another of those in the audience.

A few minutes later,
another person stopped in front of me with hand extended. It was Lonn Nally,
the President of the Provo Missionary Training Center. He greeted me
cheerfully, “How are you doing?” I replied that I was fine, when in fact I had
been feeling just a little blue because I was by myself, and responsible for
all that would be taught during the next hour. As he took my hand in his
affable way, however, any clouds that may have been hanging over me were
completely dispelled. They had been thinned a bit by President Roach’s good
cheer and then torn completely asunder by President Nally’s wholesomeness and
kindness. I knew that he loved me, although I cannot say what convinced me that
that was the case. My whole soul was filled with light and joy.

I have given some
thought to the experience and I am confident that John the Beloved clearly
describes the effect that both my wife and I felt that Sunday.

Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day
of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in
love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that
feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. (1
John 4:17-19)

I came away from
that meeting wanting to be a better man, not so much because of the material presented,
but because of the manner in which I had been treated. I love those two men,
President Nally and President Roach, together with the many others who have
helped me to realize who I am and what I am capable of. I want to be as they
are; I want to be like Him whom they represent. ~PNH